


Mission Insane: Horror

by Kyarorain



Series: Mission Insane [1]
Category: Little Busters!
Genre: Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-07
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-02 15:54:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4065796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyarorain/pseuds/Kyarorain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fills with the theme Horror.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Scary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [#01: Monster] Rin hated scary things. At least she wasn't alone.

"Where are you?"

A deep voice roared out, striking fear into their hearts.

The man trod through the room, his heavy footsteps coming even closer.

"You can't hide from me. Come on out, little one."

The monster was coming.

She screwed her eyes shut and burrowed her shivering body further into her brother's warm chest. His arms tightened around her. Their hearts pounded simultaneously.

"You were causing trouble again, weren't you? It's time to be punished."

A breathy chuckle could be heard. They heard a soft thump as his knees hit the floor.

"You're under the bed, aren't you? I can see you."

The stench of alcohol reached their noses.

He reached toward them with a hairy hand.

"No!" Kyousuke's teeth sank into his hand.

The man yowled in pain and reared back.

"Come on, Rin!" Kyousuke pulled her out from under the bed and they tried to run.

With an angry shout, the man tore after them.

Rin looked back and saw that he was almost on top of them. She cried out.

Kyousuke pushed her away and stepped in front of her, spreading his arms out.

"Rin, run away!"

Rin was frozen to the spot, unable to do anything but watch on in terror as the man sent him flying with a single swipe of his fist. He towered over her, his mouth parting in a grin that showed rows of yellow teeth.

Rin screamed.

"Rin, wake up!"

Rin awoke to find herself in bed. Kyousuke was shaking her.

"Were you having another bad dream, Rin?"

"Mmm." She nodded her head. "I dreamed about monsters again."

"The monsters are gone. They won't hurt you anymore." Kyousuke stroked her damp hair. "You don't have anything to be afraid of."

"What if they come back?"

"They won't. Even if they do, I'll beat them up, so you don't have to worry."


	2. The Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [#02: Nightmare] The day starts off normally enough. Then it gets frightening.

"Morning," Riki said, as he sat down at the table with Masato. Kyousuke, Kengo and Rin were already there. They greeted him back and he started to eat.

A hush fell over the cafeteria. The sudden absence of voices caused Riki to look up and he gasped.

Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo were sitting completely still. Their green tinted faces were sagging and melting away until their grinning skulls began to show.

The sound of Rin's scream spurred Riki into action. He grabbed her hand and tore out of the cafeteria.

They slowed to a stop once they were outside. Riki sank to his knees. His throat filled with warm bile and he heaved, spewing forth a wave of vomit. He heard Rin moan as she hit the ground.

"Ah... uwah..." Rin covered her face and sobbed. "Aaaaaaah!"

Just what the hell had that been? Riki blinked, trying to banish the horrifying sight of his friends' dissolving faces.

Things only got even weirder, when they discovered Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo had completely disappeared. Calling their phones resulted in the message that the numbers were unreachable. Even worse, nobody else who had been in the cafeteria had noticed what happened.

Though they were both sick with worry, Riki and Rin still went to class. They entered the classroom and a scene of horror awaited them.

Everybody, except Masato and Kengo, were there, sitting in their seats. Their bodies were charred black. An acrid, burning smell filled the classroom.

The door slammed shut behind the two as they screamed.

"No!" Riki tried to pry the door open, but it wouldn't budge.

"Riki!" Rin gasped out.

Riki turned around and his eyes grew wide. The bodies were slowly rising from their chairs. One by one, they started shuffling across the room toward Riki and Rin.

"Stay away!" Riki exclaimed, holding on tight to Rin, who buried her face in his chest and whimpered.

"You should have... let us die..."

"We were meant to die..."

"We are the dead..."

They kept chanting over and over, repeating similar messages, as they surrounded the two, preventing any means of escape.

A foul smell overpowered Riki's senses and he gagged. "Stop, please, stop." Tears streamed down his face and he clutched Rin even tighter.

Their cold fingers brushed over Riki's face and gripped his jacket. He felt Rin being pulled away from him.

"No! Rin!"

"Riki! Help me!"

Riki tried to fight against the grasping hands but their arms held him tight, pulling him into the cluster of burned bodies. Hands pressed down over his nose and mouth. As he looked up, all he could see were grinning skulls coated in peeling scraps of blackened flesh.

His lungs burned and his head grew light.

His body grew limp and he surrendered to the darkness.

Riki sat up with a gasp. Sweat dripped down his body and he clutched his head in his hands, breathing heavily.

It was just a nightmare.


	3. Visitors of the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [#03: Vampire] Riki hears a sound and goes outside to investigate, which turns out to be a terrible mistake.

"Did you hear that just now?" Riki asked from his spot at the veranda doors. A pleasant cool breeze was flowing through and easing the summer heat. Even well into the evening, it was feeling uncomfortably warm without the doors open.

"Hm?" Masato was lying on his bed, lifting weights. "What is it?"

"I heard an odd noise."

"I didn't hear anything."

It had been a fluttering sound, too loud to be a small bird or a bat. Whatever it was, it had to be something big. Maybe a bird of prey?

"I'm going to go and check it out."

"Alright."

Riki stepped out onto the grass and listened intently. The sound of the crickets had stilled some time ago and there were no other students to be seen. The full moon loomed in the sky, providing ample illumination for his surroundings. He stepped forward, venturing further away from the dormitory buildings, and turned around.

His gaze roamed over the area. When he saw what was on top of the building in front of him, his heart almost stopped.

It looked like a person, but surely it couldn't be

Then, the person spread its arms outwards, two wings arching from its back and leaped. It swooped down toward him.

Masato heard Riki scream and hurried outside. "Riki!"

However, he was too late. Riki was nowhere to be seen. Everyone searched all over the school, but there was no sign of him to be found. When they tried his cell phone, it just rang and rang. Eventually, it didn't ring at all.

***

Riki tugged at the chains, ignoring the aches of protests in his arms and shoulders. His wrists were red and marred with blood where the metal bangs had chafed against the skin. He had been stripped of all his clothes and been left alone inside this dark cave. His body shivered and his teeth chattered loudly.

How long had he been here already? It felt like a very long time.

A low growl came from his stomach and Riki groaned. He so desperately wanted some food and water right now.

Would anyone come to his rescue? He had screamed for help until his throat hurt but nobody had answered. The whole time he had been hanging in this cave, he hadn't heard so much as the tiniest noise.

A footstep echoed off the walls of the cave.

Riki gasped, his heart hammering. Someone was here!

"Hello?" Riki called out. "Help me! Please, help!"

A radiant glow lit up the cave as the footsteps approached. Riki screwed his eyes shut. When he was able to open them, he saw a woman with long, dark hair and pale skin standing before him.

"So, you're my newest toy, are you?" The woman walked toward him and grasped his chin in her hand. She lifted his head, examining him from different angles. "They brought me a cute one this time. How marvellous. I always did like them cute." She ran a tongue over her lips.

Riki's hope faded, horror taking its place. So much for thinking he had been saved. "Who are you?"

"I am the queen of the vampires."

"Wh-what?" For a second, Riki thought she was crazy, but then he remembered the winged person leaping off the building. It had all happened so fast, he barely had any time to take it in. For a moment, he had seen the face of a man before something hard struck the back of his head. When he woke up, he had found himself in this cave. "A vampire? That can't be."

The so-called queen opened her mouth and bared her fangs.

"N-no way."

The queen's fingers brushed against his cheek. Riki shivered at the icy touch.

"Nobody can ever quite believe it at first. You are going to be a fine toy indeed." The woman brought her hand down to his neck and wrapped her fingers round his throat. She squeezed until he started kicking and gasping for breath. "I am going to play with you for a long, long time. And then... I am going to make you mine." She pressed her lips against his.

It took two long days, filled with unimaginable pain, before the queen had finally had enough of playing. As Riki hung on the brink of death, she sank her fangs deep into his neck and drank her fill.

***

The following night, Rin returned to her room after spending the evening with the boys. They were all trying their best to go on in spite of being worried sick over Riki, hoping that the day would come that he turned up.

Rin sat on the end of her bed and sighed, her shoulders slumping. It felt so strange not having Riki around. When was he going to come back?

A sharp rap on the window made her jump.

"Huh?" Rin heard the knock again. That was strange. How could someone be knocking at the window on the second floor? Maybe her ears were playing tricks on her. She went to the window anyway and pushed it up.

A large object knocked her to the floor as it dived through her window. Rin shrieked and shielded herself with her arms. As she sat there shuddering, she heard someone's ragged gasps.

Rin lowered her arms and her eyes grew wide.

"Ri...ki?"

Riki was kneeling on her floor, clutching his chest and breathing heavily. He raised his head, giving her a look at his sweat drenched face. His skin was a ghastly shade of white and his lips tinted blue.

"Riki, what happened to you?" Rin ran over to him. Her hand brushed against his and she recoiled. It felt like touching ice. "You're so cold."

"I need to... feed..."

"Do you want me to get you something from the cafeteria?"

"No..." Riki shook his head. "I need... your blood..."

"My what?" Rin blinked, regarding him with puzzlement. "Blood? What are you talking about?"

Riki lunged at her and knocked her to the floor.

"H-hey! Riki, what are you doing?" Rin looked into Riki's gaping mouth and saw a pair of fangs. "Huh?"

Riki was about to sink his fangs in, but then he froze. His entire body trembled as he looked down into Rin's eyes with a fearful gaze. "N-no... I can't..."

"What's wrong with you?" Rin asked. "You're not really a vampire, are you? Right? This is a joke, isn't it?"

Riki scrambled off her and keeled over, clutching his head. He let out an agonised cry. "Run! Please, run away! She wants me to... suck your blood... I don't know much longer I can resist... just run!"

Rin clambered to her feet, her entire body shaking. "Riki?"

"Please, GO! Get out of here!"

Riki's voice was filled with so much pain, she knew he was being serious. She turned and ran from the room, hurrying back to the boys' dormitory.

Kyousuke, Masato, and Kengo were astonished when Rin told them the story, but they could tell from the look on her face she wasn't kidding. There was no way she would be joking about something like this.

This matter had to be dealt with. There was no time to mourn Riki's tragic fate. They sought the items needed for this mission, hunting around the dorms and asking people. An avid fan of vampire related things happened to have a hammer and stake on hand, surprisingly enough. Kurugaya, for some reason, was able to give them a whole bundle of garlic cloves.

Riki wasn't in Rin's room anymore. They decided to search the grounds in case he or any other vampires were still around. There was the issue of there being only one hammer and stake. Rin ended up carrying it. Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo believed they would at least be able to defend themselves should a vampire appear and they would make sure not to stray too far from each other.

"Riki!" Rin wandered through the courtyard. "Riki, where are you?"

"So, you're the one he's close to, aren't you?"

"Huh?" Rin whirled around to see a strange lady. "Uwah! Who are you?"

"The queen of the vampires. Hmph, I'm disappointed. I thought he was supposed to be well under my spell by now."

"The vampire queen?" Rin backed away. "So, are you the one who turned Riki into that?"

"Correct." The queen chuckled. "It's a little test I like to put my new toys through. I'll make their first feed be someone they love or are particularly close to. In this case, it was meant to be you, but it seems he was able to resist. I'm sure he won't be able to resist for much longer though. In the meantime, I'm going to help things along." She moved forward with startling speed. Rin had no time to react before the queen had her in her arms.

"KYOUSUKEEE!"

When Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo got there, Rin was already gone.

The queen brought Rin to her cave. Riki was there, lying on the floor with a chain around his neck.

"Riki!" Rin ran to him.

"N...no..." Riki looked up at her with pained eyes.

"Now then, my pet," the queen purred, walking over to them. "Hurry and feed. Your body is in great pain, isn't it? You know what to have to do to make the pain go away. Bite her neck and drink her sweet, delicious blood. Imagine gulping down that fluid. It's the most wonderful thing in the world. The taste and feel of blood as you drink it. Do it, and the pain will go away."

"Ahh... uwah..." Riki twitched and screamed. His body gleamed with sweat.

"Stop it. Stop hurting Riki!" Rin put a hand on his clammy cheek. "How could you do this to him? You're awful!"

"I'll help you." The queen produced a dagger and seized Rin's wrist. She pressed the tip of the blade against the skin. Rin gasped. A tiny bead of blood dripped out and splashed into Riki's mouth.

Riki's eyes widened.

"Blood... blood..." Riki started panting. "Need blood." He looked at Rin with wild eyes then sprang.

Rin cried out as Riki pinned her to the floor. "No, Riki, stop!"

"Yesss... give me the blood." Riki lowered his head, opening his mouth wide.

Rin crammed a garlic clove into his mouth.

Riki flew off her and spat out the garlic clove. He writhed and clutched at his throat.

"What?" the queen backed away. "G-garlic?!"

Rin took out another garlic clove and hurled it in a magnificent pitch. It landed directly in the queen's mouth. She collapsed, acting the same as Riki had done.

Rin leaped into action, jumping on top of the queen and taking out the hammer and stake. She hammered the stake deep into the queen's chest. The queen released an unearthly screech and dissolved into dust.

"I did it." Rin sighed in relief. She looked over to Riki, who was lying still and panting. "Riki, are you okay?" She crawled over to him.

"It... hurts..." Riki gritted his teeth. "I can't take it any more. Rin, please. You have to end it."

"What?"

"The stake... drive it into my heart..."

"But..." Rin chewed on her lower lip. "Do I really have to? Is there no way we can turn you back?" Her eyes glistened. "I don't want you to die, Riki!"

"I'm not human... anymore..." Riki broke off, letting out a moan and screwing his eyes shut. "I don't want to feed on people... I don't want this... being a vampire... I'd rather die. It hurts so much. Please, Rin, you have to do this!" A scream burst from his throat.

Rin put her hands over her mouth as she watched him writhe and cry out. The tears began to spill over her cheeks. "Riki..."

"Please, hurry... before I stop being myself... I can't hold out much longer. I'm begging you!"

Rin nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay. I'll do it." She picked the stake and hammer up and held them over Riki's heart with tears streaming down her face. "Goodbye, Riki," she choked out.

"Thank you." Riki forced a smile through the pain. "Goodbye... I love you."

Rin brought down the hammer.

The light faded from Riki's eyes and he went limp. Rin stroked his cold cheek.

"I loved you too," Rin whispered. She rose on shaky legs and ran from the cave.


	4. On a Rainy Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [04: Killer] The Little Busters are involved in an accident. With the vehicle out of commission and no signal, they set out to find help.

The rain hammered down thick and fast, lashing against the windscreen of the van faster than the blades could wipe them away. With the darkness of night gradually creeping in, it was becoming difficult to see their surroundings.

Kyousuke clutched onto the steering wheel, guiding the van up the sloping road and keeping his gaze straight ahead. When Riki looked at his hands, he could see that the knuckles had turned right. Kyousuke's mouth was set in a thin line too. Since he was still new to driving, these harsh weather conditions had to be putting him on edge, but Riki was sure Kyousuke would be able to handle this.

"Don't worry, Riki," Kyousuke said. "I'll get us back to school safe and sound."

"I know you will." Riki looked back to where the rest of the Little Busters were sitting. "Is everyone alright?" He received a chorus of responses telling him they were all doing fine.

"It's raining really hard, isn't it?" Komari pressed her face against the window. "It was so sunny this morning too."

"Well, I'm glad it didn't rain while we were out having fun," Haruka said. "That would have been a real bummer, huh?"

"We would have been back at the school much sooner if it hadn't been for that flat tire too." Masato heaved a great sigh. "That rental place sure gave you a shabby piece of junk, Kyousuke."

"Well, at least it's affordable," Kyousuke replied.

"I hope we're not going to get into trouble for being late back to school." Kud pressed her fingers together with a worried look.

"It's alright, I'll take full responsibility," Kyousuke assured her.

The van reached the top of the slope and coasted down the other side. Just then, the shape of a human could be seen in the midst of the falling rain, standing directly in the path of the van.

"Look out!" Riki exclaimed.

Kyousuke had already noticed it and gave the steering wheel a sharp twist. That, coupled with the van's downward momentum, caused the van to spin on its wheels and careen across the road. He clutched onto the steering wheel for dear life with gritted teeth, struggling to keep the van under control. In the midst of the commotion, there was a loud thud and a vibration rocked the van. It continued to spin and the momentum carried it off the edge of the road. The van was filled with screams as it rolled down the slope. It crashed into the thick vegetation below and then there was silence.

"Riki. Riki!"

Someone was gently shaking his shoulder as they called out to him. Riki's eyes slowly cracked open and he turned his head to see Kyousuke peering at him.

"Kyousuke?"

"Good, you're awake." Kyousuke turned his gaze back to the cracked windscreen. All he could see was a mass of dense vegetation. "Damn," he muttered, shaking his head. "Masato, Kengo, are the girls alright?"

Riki looked back. It seemed Masato and Kengo were both conscious and checking on everyone. He could see Rin in her seat, slowly shaking her head and blinking.

"Rin, are you alright?"

"Uhh..." Rin's gaze met Riki's. "I think so."

"Ueeeehn, that was scary!" Komari wailed.

"I was so scared, I thought I was going to die." Kud's voice was so weak, it could barely be heard.

"Boy, I really have the worst luck, don't I?" Haruka said. "Onee-chan is going to freak."

"I am okay," Mio said. "That really was a nasty shock."

"We all have the worst luck, don't we?" Kurugaya said. "At least we're conscious this time."

Riki was immensely relieved to hear that everyone had survived the crash. He supposed it made sense, since this particular fall had felt much shorter than that time with the bus though it had all been happening so fast, it was hard to tell. He tried the door and managed to push it open. Kyousuke did the same with his door.

The two surveyed the scene around the van. They were surrounded by a thick mass of bushes and trees. The van had remained on its wheels upon crashing. The fender was severely dented where it had crashed into a tree.

"Damn, what a mess." Kyousuke put a hand to his forehead. "How could it end up like this?"

Riki looked up and saw the towering slope in the distance. It didn't look like it would be easy to go back the way they had come. They would have to find another way. It occurred to him that the rain had stopped. At least the weather was feeling merciful, it seemed.

"It wasn't your fault, Kyousuke. That guy came out of nowhere."

"Huh?" Kyousuke looked startled. "Oh yeah, that person in the road... come to think of it, I think I might have hit him anyway. I felt a thud when the bus was spinning." He hung his head.

"He might still be alive. We'll just have to call for help. I'll do it." Riki took his cellphone out. He checked the display and his spirits sank when he saw there was no signal.

Kyousuke pulled the van door open and everyone stepped out. It looked like none of them had been too badly hurt in the crash.

"So everyone is alright?" Kyousuke asked. "Good, I'm glad." He sighed. "Sorry about that, I tried to keep the van under control but it ended up going off the road anyway."

"I'm sure you did your best," said Kengo. "So, just what happened back there anyway?"

"A man appeared in the road. He came out of nowhere and I tried to avoid him, then I lost control of the van. I'm afraid I might have hit him anyway. Riki, have you got through?"

Riki shook his head. "There's no signal."

"Then we should hurry and get help," Kurugaya said. "Is everyone able to walk alright? No pain?"

It turned out everyone was able to walk without any trouble, so they all set off. After walking for a few minutes, a thick fog descended over them and obscured their surroundings. They cautiously made their way through the white haze, holding hands and taking care to not fall over. A light shone through the fog and they headed in that direction. The shape of a building soon took form and they found themselves standing in front of a mansion.

"Eh? There was a place like this out here?" Haruka asked in disbelief.

"What luck." Komari smiled. "We'll be able to get help now."

Kyousuke approached the door and knocked. After a minute, the door slowly swung open.

"Hello?" Kyousuke peered into the darkness beyond. "Huh, there's nobody there?"

"It's a haunted house!" Kud shrieked. "Rettsu esukeepu!" She turned around and fled, only to trip on a root and fall flat on her face.

"Kuu-chan!" Komari hurried over to her. "Are you okay?"

"Wafu, I fell over." Kud sat up and rubbed her nose. "How embarrassing."

"I'm sure there's some rational explanation for it," said Riki. "Maybe it's some kind of automatic door." He had his doubts even as he looked at the door though. It did look like a perfectly ordinary wooden door after all.

"I don't want to go in." Rin was rooted to the spot with a fearful expression. "Let's go somewhere else."

"Hey, now, there might be an injured guy lying in the road, you know," Kyousuke said. "We can't waste any time."

"O-oh, yeah..." Rin looked down.

"It's okay, Rin." Riki took her hand. "There's no such thing as ghosts. We're just going to ask if we can use their telephone and call for help, okay?"

"Hello, is anyone there?" Masato called through the door.

"All the lights are off," Kengo said. "Maybe there's nobody home?"

"And they forgot to lock their door?" Mio asked. "Well, that's just careless of them."

"Then I guess we'll just have to let ourselves in. It's for a good cause," said Kyousuke. "Let's go."

Riki felt Rin's hand tighten around his. He looked back and saw Kud and Komari had fearful looks on their faces too. "Hey, we don't all have to go in, do we? I'm sure some of us could wait out here and..." He broke off as he felt a water droplet hit his nose.

A moment later, a cascade of rain started falling on them.

"Umu. Looks like you spoke too soon."

Riki sighed. So much for trying to be considerate.

They all hurried into the mansion. Someone found the light switch and the lights came on, illuminating their surroundings.

 

They were standing in a large hallway, facing a sweeping flight of stairs that went up to the landing above. At either side of the stairs were two halls stretching ahead. There were portraits and pictures hanging on the walls. A few wilted plants were sitting on end tables. The carpet looked worn and was covered in dust.

The door behind them slammed shut with a loud bang. Some of the girls screamed.

"It... it must have been the wind." Mio's voice sounded a little shaky. "Come to think of it, this reminds me of a horror story I read once. After getting into an accident on a stormy night, some people find an old abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Rin yelled.

"Hmm." Riki looked around, wrinkling his nose. "Something smells off."

"It smells kind of old and musty, doesn't it?" Haruka tilted her head.

"There's a lot of dust too." Komari ran a finger over a table and brought it to her face. A thin, grey layer coated the tip of her finger. "It hasn't been cleaned lately."

"So it really is an old abandoned mansion?" Mio's eyes widened. "To think we would actually stumble upon a place like that... that's actually really scary."

"Let's at least look for a phone," Kyousuke suggested.

"You really think the phone will work in a place like this?" Riki asked.

"Eh, it's worth a try."

With that, the Little Busters set off on their search for the phone, unaware of the danger that faced them within the depths of the mansion.

 

***

"Huh? Where did everybody go?" Masato came to a stop and looked around. "Weird. Everybody just disappeared all of a sudden!"

"What?" Kengo stopped and looked around, frowning. "That's strange. I didn't hear anything, did you?"

"Not at all." Masato called out. "Hey, Riki! Rin! Kyousuke! Anyone there?"

Only silence greeted his calls.

"Man, this is really freaky." Masato folded his arms and sighed. "You think maybe this really is a haunted mansion? Oh, crap, I'm totally gonna die!"

"Don't be ridiculous." Kengo raised an eyebrow. "Let's just keep looking, and be on your guard, Masato." He started walking again.

The two of them walked down the hallway together, listening out for any noise. At the end of the hallway, they reached a fork.

"I'll go this way."

"Alright, I'll go the other way then."

They went their separate ways. A short while later, Masato heard Kengo scream. The scream was quickly cut off.

"Huh?" Masato turned around. "Kengo?" He hurried back the way he had come and caught sight of a shadowy figure standing over Kengo's crumpled form. "You bastard! What the hell did you do?" He ran at the person, letting out a yell.

The silhouette vanished and Masato came to a halt, blinking. "Huh?"

He sensed someone behind him. Too late, he started to turn, and something sharp pierced the side of his neck. Masato made a choked noise and reached up. The hand came away, yanking out the object, and a red fountain spewed out.

"Ugh..." Masato collapsed to his knees, pressing his hand over the wound. Blood was spurting out much too fast, oozing between his fingers and staining his hand a deep red. As he sank to the floor, he caught a glimpse of Kengo's face, with eyes staring straight ahead and blood running in a river from his mouth.

***

"Eh? Where did everybody else go?" Haruka twirled around. "Mio-chin, did you see where they went?"

"I didn't." Mio frowned. "This is indeed troubling."

"Hey!" Haruka cupped her hands around her mouth as she yelled. "Guys! Anyone there?" After a long pause, she put her hands down. "Hmm, that's weird. How could we have lost them so quickly?"

"When people get separated in horror stories, it never ends well for them."

"Please don't talk about horror stories." Haruka made a whimpering sound. "I... I get it! This is a prank! They are playing a prank on us!"

"I can't imagine anyone could be so callous as to play a prank on their friends while a man's life is hanging in the balance."

"Ugh. Then... what is going on?" Haruka sank to her knees. "Have we somehow walked through a time warp? Or teleported?"

Mio raised an eyebrow. "You are letting your imagination run away with you."

"This is just way too creepy." Haruka shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. "The empty mansion in the middle of nowhere, the door that opened and shut all by itself, it's like we're in a horror movie."

"Let's hope not. People always die in horror movies." Mio started walking.

"H-hey, Mio-chin, where are you going?!"

"To find the others of course."

"Oh. Yeah." Haruka let out a nervous laugh and stood up. She heard a heavy footstep fall behind her. "Huh?"

She heard even more footsteps approach. As she turned around, she caught a glint of light bouncing off steel in the corner of her eye. When she saw what was behind her, she screamed.

"Saigusa-san?" Mio stopped and turned around. She saw Haruka's body sway sideways and hit the floor with a loud thump.

A few feet away from the body, Haruka's eyes stared up at the ceiling. Her mouth gaped open in a frozen scream.

"Ah... ah..." Mio backed away, her gaze fixing on the advancing man holding a bloodstained axe in his hands. With a scream, she turned and broke into a run. Her heart pounded in her chest as she kept running. She could hear the advancing footsteps coming up behind her. "Somebody help!"

A sharp impact struck her between the shoulder blades and she fell.

Mio screwed her eyes shut and curled up, making whimpering sounds.

The axe fell down, making a dull thud, and there was silence.

***

"Nobody here." Kurugaya came out of a room. "This is just too strange. How could we have managed to lose everyone so quickly?"

"I'm scared." Kud whimpered, clutching onto Komari tightly. "Maybe it was ghosts."

"G-g-ghosts?!" Komari covered her mouth. "So it was ghosts who came and took everyone away? This is way too scary! What are we going to do?"

"There are no ghosts," Kurugaya said in a firm tone. "Don't get carried away with such thoughts. It's alright." She flashed them a reassuring smile. "Onee-san will take care of you."

"Y-yeah." Komari smiled shakily. "If Yui-chan's here, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Don't call me Yui-chan." Kurugaya marched off. "Alright, let's keep looking for them. Hmm, I really do wonder how they could have disappeared all of a sudden, but I'm sure there's a rational explanation for it."

"They disappeared without a sound," Kud said as she started walking along with Komari. "I wonder. Could they have fallen through the floor? Like, through a trapdoor? We'd better watch our steps if that's the case."

"Eeeh, a trap door?" Komari's eyes grew wide. "Scary! Why would a mansion have trap doors?"

"I suppose that does make more sense than ghosts," said Kurugaya. "That's still weird though."

"Do you have any ideas?" asked Komari.

"Quiet!" Kurugaya suddenly exclaimed. In the silence, they could hear the heavy fall of footsteps.

"Someone's coming," Kud whispered, clinging to Komari.

"Is it Kyousuke-san and the others?"

"Who's there?" Kurugaya called out. There was no response. The footsteps continued.

A figure emerged from the shadows. Their profile was far too large for them to be one of the members of the Little Busters.

"Get behind me," Kurugaya said. Komari and Kud did as she said and she took a defensive stance. "I asked you a question," she said, addressing the approaching stranger. "It's only polite to answer. Now, who are you?"

As the figure came closer, she saw he was a man. He raised his arm and she saw the glint of metal in his hand. A shot rang out.

Kurugaya jerked and fell to her knees. She slumped over onto the floor, where she lay perfectly still.

"Yui-chan!" Komari exclaimed. She let out a scream upon seeing the bloody streak running from a hole on Kurugaya's forehead. "Noooooo!"

"Kurugaya-san?" Kud peeped out from behind her. "Aaaah!" Her face turned white as a sheet and she dropped to the floor.

"Kuu-chan!" Komari turned around. She heard another shot and felt a flash of pain in her chest. She looked down to see a red stain spreading over her jumper. "Why?" she asked in a dazed voice, as her body crumpled.

The man walked up to Kud's prone form and pressed the muzzle of the gun against her head. Yet another shot rang out.

***

"I'm scared, Riki." Rin clutched tightly onto Riki's hand, so tight Riki was fearing for the bones in his hands. "Where's everyone gone?"

"It's okay," Riki assured her. "We must have just taken a wrong turn or something. There's got to be a rational explanation for it. I'm sure this has nothing to do with ghosts or anything like that."

"R-really?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm here so you'll be fine."

"Okay." Rin gave a small nod. "I'm glad you're with me, Riki."

"Yeah." Riki turned around a corner.

Rin yelped. "There's someone there!"

Riki too was startled by the human shape standing against the wall, but he quickly realized what it really was. "That's just a suit of armor."

"Oh." Rin looked embarrassed. "That's all, huh?"

They walked across the hallway. Riki shot a glance at the suit of armor. "Hmm."

"What is it?"

"I was just thinking, don't suits of armor usually have a weapon?"

"Well, maybe it got lost."

"Mm, you're probably right." Riki looked over his shoulder as they walked past. There was something rather unsettling about that suit of armor. He almost felt like he was being watched. Everything about this place was putting him on edge.

"Uwah!"

Riki turned around to see someone charging at them. There was no time to react as he was sent flying against the wall. He was aware of Rin's hand slipping out of his.

"Riki!"

Riki looked up to see the bulky form of a man standing in front of him. A sharp pain lanced his gut and he made a choking sound. He dropped his gaze to see a broadsword sticking into him. It went all the way through his body and into the wall, pinning him in place. His blood ran cold at the sight.

"No..." Riki whispered. A fiery pain gradually built up in his gut where the sword had pierced him. His mouth filled up with a warm, coppery liquid that oozed out and dripped down his chin. He raised his head and saw the man walk away toward Rin. "Rin!" Riki tried to move from the wall, but the sword held him in place. Any movement only caused even more pain to shoot through his body. Blood was seeping out around the wound in his gut, dripping down his clothes and staining the carpet.

Rin shrieked and backed away. "Riki, Riki... Riki!" She tried to run past the man toward him, but he was quicker and grabbed her from behind. With one arm, he lifted her clear off the floor. He placed a hand over her nose and mouth.

"No!" Riki hacked and coughed, spewing out even more blood. He reached out with one arm, watching as Rin kicked and flailed in the man's grip. Her eyes were wide with panic. He continued to struggle and scream.

Rin's arms fell to her side and she went limp.

"Nooooooooo!" Riki howled, tears streaming down his cheeks.

After another minute, the man dropped Rin's body to the floor. Her lifeless eyes stared straight ahead. Riki sagged against the wall, sobbing. He couldn't even move anymore. His body felt tired and he was growing cold.

In the end, he couldn't even do anything for Rin. He'd failed to protect her. With that last thought, he slipped out of consciousness.

***

"Riki! Rin!" Kyousuke ran through the hallway. "Masato! Kengo!" He slowed to a stop and hunched over with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. "Just where did everybody go?"

In the distance, he heard a thump.

Kyousuke made his way toward the sound. The sound of doors slamming reached his ears. He turned around a corner. At the end of a hallway, he saw a pair of double doors. His gaze dropped and his heart stopped at the sight of blood smears on the floor, leading all the way up to the doors. Kyousuke raced across the hall and flung the doors open.

Beyond those doors lay a scene of unimaginable despair.

Riki, Rin, Masato, Kengo, Komari, Kud, Kurugaya, Haruka, Mio, all of them had been arranged in a circle around the room. It was clear from the state of their bodies that they were all dead.

At the center of the circle, a man was standing with a wide grin on his face. He faced Kyousuke with gleaming eyes.

"No... no..." Kyousuke stumbled into the room, his body shaking all over as he took in the horrifying scene. He grew numb as he looked at the lifeless faces of his friends. "Riki... Rin... no... why, why?! Why did you do this to my friends?!" Everything became a blur as a veil of tears formed in his eyes.

The man chuckled. "Why else... revenge, of course." He took several slow steps toward Kyousuke.

Kyousuke blinked back the tears and noticed.

The odd angle of the man's head as it bent over.

The rim of blood that stained his mouth.

"I had finally done it," the man rasped out. "I was free. And you... you ruined it for me! It's all your fault!" With a roar, he charged at Kyousuke.

Kyousuke was still reeling from the shock and was too slow to react to the man's actions. He tried to move, but the man's bulky form crashed into him and knocked him to the floor. A sharp pain seared through the back of his head upon impact with the stone floor and he gasped. The man's hands pinned his arms to the floor as he straddled his waist. Kyousuke gritted his teeth and looked up into those dark eyes filled with rage.

"I didn't mean to. You appeared out of nowhere. There was no time to react. We were going to get help."

"But it was too late for me, wasn't it?" The man's face contorted and his lips lifted in a sneer. "You killed me. So I got my revenge." He licked his blood stained lips. "And now you're the last one." A soft chuckle rumbled in his throat.

"Why? Why did you have to kill them? It wasn't their fault! They were innocent. I was the one driving... you didn't have to..." Kyousuke stared up at the man's face with tears streaking from his eyes. He couldn't believe it. This insane scumbag had murdered his friends all because of his own mistake. It just wasn't right.

"I know. You were the one who killed me." The man withdrew a syringe. His eyes lit up and his grin widened. "So, you are going to get extra special treatment." He brought his hand down.

Kyousuke felt a stinging pain in the side of his neck. The world around him became a blur and he sank into the darkness that engulfed him.

When he woke up, he found himself strapped to a table. Looking around the room, he saw unimaginable horrors. Various tools were sitting upon the shelves of the walls. There was the man, standing over him with a skewer.

"Let's start." The man's mouth spread in a grin, displaying his teeth, as he raised the utensil.

***

"Good afternoon. How are you doing?"

Riki asked the question with forced cheerfulness, even though he knew there would be no answer. He stood in the center of the hospital room, looking around. It was the same as alway; a clean white room occupied by a single patient. A gentle breeze blew in, ruffling the white curtains. Riki walked over to the window and gazed out at the hospital carpark below.

"It must be pretty boring being stuck in here all the time, huh?" Riki smiled, keeping up the act. "You should be at school, playing with us, instead of being stuck in this hospital room." He turned around, fixing his gaze on the other visitor. "Rin, aren't you going to say hello?"

Rin walked further into the room, glancing at the bed. It wasn't easy for her, coming here and seeing him in that state. She walked over to the bed and peered down at her brother's face. As usual, he was staring up at the ceiling with blank eyes.

"Hey. Everybody really misses you." Rin stared at his face. "Um... we're all doing okay. We wish you would hurry up and come back already." She raised her head. "Riki?"

"Yeah?" Riki approached the bed.

"Do you think he will come back?"

Riki frowned, looking at Kyousuke's face. He had a calm expression and showed no sign he knew they were even there. There had been no change over the past two months. The doctors had no idea if he would emerge from his coma anytime soon. They had suspected the coma was caused by him hitting his head on the steering wheel when the van crashed, but there was no sign of brain damage. In fact, his brain was functioning just fine.

"I don't know." Riki sighed. "There's been no change at all."

He thought back to the night of the accident. Everyone had been knocked unconscious but apart from a few minor injuries, they had all survived. While almost everyone had regained consciousness after a minute or so, Kyousuke alone remained unconscious. He hadn't woken up since.

Riki had a feeling something had happened during that incident. He only vaguely remembered the sensation of fear. Everyone else had that same feeling, though none of them could put it into words.

That man had been killed in the impact. His car was found abandoned close by. Riki shivered, remembering the news report about the car. They had found bodies in the car, those of the man's family. It was suspected the man had murdered them all.

It was chilling to think they had encountered a killer, and he had even caused the vehicle to go off the road though Riki doubted it had been intentional.

"Why did this happen?" Rin hung her head. "We were all together again, we were all having fun, and now... "

"I know." Riki bit his lower lip. This just wasn't right. Kyousuke had returned to the Little Busters after so long, only to leave them again, and he had no idea if he would ever come back. All they could do was visit him and pray.

The doctors had said it was possible Kyousuke might be able to hear them. Riki wondered if that was true. He hoped so. Maybe one day their voices would be able to pull Kyousuke out of that abyss.

"I wonder if he's dreaming," Rin murmured.

"Who knows?" Riki leaned in, looking deep into Kyousuke's eyes. He reached out to smooth back his bangs. "If he is, I hope they are happy dreams.Come back to us as soon as you can, Kyousuke. We all miss you."

A glistening bead formed in the corner of Kyousuke's eye and spilled out, leaving a wet trail in its wake.


	5. Bloody Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [06: Mask] Haruka thought buying the creepy mask was a great idea. How very wrong she was.

"Whoah." Haruka knelt down in front of a glass cabinet. "That's a really creepy mask."

The mask in question had rivers of red running from the eyes, a mouth turned down at the corners, and scars all over the flesh coloured material.

"Does that interest you?"

A wizened old man stood behind her.

"Erm. Ahahaha, no, it's okay. I was just looking."

"I can give it to you for the low price of 500 yen."

"What? Just 500 yen?" Haruka looked at the mask. A smile spread across her face. Maybe it would come in useful for a prank after all. "Okay, I'll take it."

Haruka paid for the mask and took it. "Whoah, it's made of leather." She ran her hands over the surface. "Weird."

***

Kud came into their bedroom and saw Haruka sitting on the side of her bed, with her back to her.

"Hello, Saigusa-san."

Haruka's head whipped around.

Kud screamed. A soft thud followed as she hit the floor.

"Wha... Little Kud?" Haruka tore off the mask and ran over to her prone body. She gently shook her until she awoke.

"Wafu... I had a scary dream."

"Actually, that wasn't a dream, that was me wearing a mask." Haruka rubbed the back of her head and gave a short laugh. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd be that frightened."

"Oh-oh." Kud lowered her head, blushing. "It was a very scary mask."

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm going to use it to prank the disciplinary committee." Haruka smirked, her eyes gleaming. "Fufufu, they are going to be wetting their pants."

***

That night, Kud jerked awake. A soft glow was coming from Haruka's desk.

As she looked toward the light, she saw Haruka's mask slowly lift into the air. A crimson light shone from its eye holes.

Kud gasped and pulled the sheet over her face.

She lay still, whimpering and shivering, with her eyes screwed shut.

It was just a dream. A scary dream.

Masks didn't float around by themselves.

When was she going to wake up?

The sound of footsteps reached her ears.

"Saigusa-san?"

A hand drew back the sheets.

Kud looked up into the gaping sockets of the mask.

She tried to scream, but no sound would come out of her mouth.

A searing pain burned into her eyes and she saw a sea of red.

***

Haruka sat up and stretched her arms. "Ahh... I want to sleep longer... I hate school days."

When she was done getting ready, she noticed Kud was still lying in her bed. The sheet was draped over her head.

"Hey, Little Kud, it's not like you to sleep in. Come on, wakey wakey."

Haruka drew the sheet back and screamed.

Kud's eyes were gone, leaving behind hollow sockets. Two crusted rivers of blood ran down her cheeks and her mouth gaped open in a silent scream.

It wasn't until much later that Haruka remembered the mask and it struck her.

The blood on Kud's face was just like that of the blood on the mask.

She searched for the mask, and realized.

The mask had disappeared.


	6. Cruel Vengeance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [07: Death] They were called cockroaches and despised for being the only survivors.

"It's enough."

What a lie that was.

Riki thought he was strong enough to cope with the hard future ahead of them. He believed he would be able to take Rin by the hand and protect her in this world where Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo were dead.

How could he have imagined it would turn out like this?

People called them cockroaches. 

They would write cruel words on Riki and Rin's desks, stuff trash into their lockers and defile their shoes, and throw them dirty looks as they walked past.

All too often, they would whisper hurtful words.

"Why them?"

It was brutal, but Riki endured. He had to, for Rin's sake.

Never, in a million years, had he imagined it could get even worse. Not like this.

Tight coils of rope tethered his wrists to the bed, chafing them to the point his skin became red and raw.

"I can't forgive you."

The cold trace of steel lightly ran over Riki's neck, making him shiver.

"Why did you live, and not my brother? Why didn't you try to save them? Why?"

Riki couldn't answer if he wanted to. Any noise he made was muffled by the tape on his mouth. 

"I can't take it anymore, having to see you two live instead of my brother."

Riki whimpered. He wanted to scream.

Nobody was going to save him.

A tear streaked from the corner of his eye.

'Sorry, Kyousuke.'

***

Riki hadn't come to breakfast the next morning.Rin was concerned so she went to his room. "Riki?" she called out as she stepped into the room. "Are you-"

Her voice broke off as she saw the trail of blood running down the side of the bed into a wide scarlet pool that ran over the carpet. An icy sensation spread through her body. She stared at the blood, her lips silently flapping open and shut. Her mind was completely blank.

"Ri...ki?"

With slow, heavy steps, she moved closer to the bed. Her body started trembling. She swallowed, attempting to moisten her dry mouth.

Riki was lying on the bed with his arms tied over his head, or rather, where his head had once been. All that remained was a bloody stump of a neck. The pillow beneath had been drenched in blood, turning it a deep red colour. 

"No... no..." Rin fell to her knees by the bed. Her face drained of colour as she absorbed the horrifying truth. "Riki, it's a lie, right? Right? Hey, you promised you wouldn't leave me. You promised!" The bloody sight before her turned into a blur beyond the veil of tears that washed over her eyes. "Riki! Riki! Riki!" She started shaking him. "Rikiiiiiiii!"

"What's all this screaming about?" Someone had flung open the door. "Oh my god!"

Other people came into the room. Rin was barely aware of someone gently pulling her away. She made a grasping motion toward Riki's body. "Riki... Riki... his head... he needs his head! Where's his head? Somebody, please help Riki!" The tears poured from her eyes. "Riki!"

Rin was taken to the infirmary and given a sedative to calm her down. She spent the rest of the day lying in bed, drifting in and out of sleep. Occasionally, people came to the bed and asked her if she was alright. 

"Where's Riki?" Rin would keep asking in response. 

They told her he wasn't able to come anymore and he was gone. It made no sense. Why wouldn't Riki come to her?

A police officer came to the infirmary later and asked her some questions. Rin continued to doze in the infirmary until evening, when she returned to her room. She took her phone out and checked it.

There were no new messages.

Rin started writing a text.

'Riki, where are you? I need you.'

She waited. After a while had passed, she wrote another text.

'Riki, why aren't you replying?'

Rin kept sending text after text. Eventually, she grew tired of texting and threw herself onto the bed where she lay without moving for a long time. She didn't feel like doing anything, not even going to dinner. 

The screen of her cell phone lit up and the message received sound played.

Rin sat bolt upright with a gasp. "Riki!" She snatched up the cellphone. A big grin spread across her face when she saw his name on the display.

'I'm here,' said the text.

"Riki." Rin put a hand over her mouth with tears streaming down her cheeks as she read the words over and over. He had finally responded. She was so glad.

'Where were you?' she responded. 'I was lonely.'

'I'm sorry, I had something important to do.'

'Where are you? Are you in your room?'

'No, I can't come to the school. I can't explain over the phone, but do you want to meet up?'

'Sure. Where?'

'You can sneak out of the school, right? Come to the bridge on the river. I'll be there.'

Rin didn't think twice. She raced out of the dormitory. There was nobody around when she got to the school gate so she was able to make a quick escape. Rin ran as fast as she could toward the riverbank. Upon reaching her destination, she had to stop to rest and catch her breath. Her heart was pounding.

Riki was right up ahead, waiting for her.

She was so excited to see him.

It had been such a scary day.

Why had it been scary? Right, because Riki wasn't there. A vague thought passed through her mind that there was something she was forgetting, but she brushed it away. It didn't matter. Riki was there, so everything was going to be fine now.

Rin went onto the bridge and caught sight of a person.

"Riki!" Rin started running. As she came closer, she slowed to a halt. That person was too tall to be Riki.

"Heh, so you came after all." The stranger turned around. In the faint moonlight, she could just barely see that he was wearing the uniform of their school. "I honestly didn't expect it to be so easy."

"Huh? Who are you? Where's Riki?" Rin shrank back.

"Oh, did you want to see Riki?"

"Riki texted me and said he would be here. Where is he?"

He clapped a hand over his forehead and threw his head back. His shoulders shook as he laughed. "Oh, wow, you still don't get it? You really are a dumb bitch." He took a cellphone from his pocket and tapped some buttons.

Rin's phone started ringing.

"Huh?" Rin took her phone out and saw that she had a call from Riki. Her gaze shifted to the student.

"You get it now? That was me texting you." He laughed and tossed the cellphone aside. The sound of a distant splash reached their ears. "You still want to see him?"

"I can see him?"

"Sure." He picked up a satchel sitting by his feet and took something round out, which he tossed over to Rin's feet. "There you go."

Rin dropped to her knees and touched the object. Her fingers sank into a soft mop of brown hair. She made a choked noise in her throat.

It was precisely the right size to be a human head.

She turned it over and found herself looking into a pair of wide eyes. Riki's mouth was frozen in a silent scream. A pungent smell wafted into her sinuses. 

"Ah... ah..." Rin started whimpering as she stared at Riki's horror stricken expression. "Riki... no... nooooooo!"

"How could you fall for such an obvious lie?" The student stood over her with a sneer on his face. "Did you really think he was still alive?" His question was followed by a chuckle. "Don't you worry, bitch. You'll be going to join him now."

His hands shot out and clamped around her neck. It took little effort for him to lift her up into the air. Riki's head fell to the ground and rolled away. Rin clutched his wrists, swinging her legs back and forth as she dangled in his grip. She struggled to pull air in through her parted lips. 

"You don't deserve to live," he spat. "Not when my brother had to die."

Rin whimpered. A fluttering sensation stirred in her chest and her heart thumped even harder. The sound of laughter reached her ears and she looked down at him. A manic grin was stretched across his face and he was laughing in glee as he choked her.

It felt horrible, dying like this.

Did Riki feel scared like this before he died, she wondered. How come he even had to die in the first place? It just wasn't fair. Her hands slipped away from his wrists and she sagged in his hold. 

'Riki, I'm coming.'

"Huh? What the..." The student let go of Rin and she dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap. He was backing away with wide eyes. "No, that's impossible. This can't be happening. Stay away from me!" A scream tore from his lips.

Riki's head flew through the air at him. The previously stiffened jaws now clamped around his neck, sinking twin rows of teeth deep into his throat. He clutched at the head, attempting to pry it away, but his efforts did nothing to stop those teeth from tearing through his jugular. The head came off, tearing away a thick mass of flesh and leaving a gaping maw behind. A fountain of viscous liquid spurted from his throat and he collapsed to the ground where he writhed and clutched at his neck, making gurgling sounds.

Rin's gaze was fixated on the spot where Riki's head had fallen to the ground. A smile spread across her face.

"Riki!" Rin ran over to the head and scooped it up. She clutched it to her chest and started sobbing. "You really are here after all. I knew you wouldn't leave me." With the gasps of the dying young man resonating in her ears, she stroked Riki's hair and hugged his head tightly. "I'm so glad. I don't have to be alone after all."

Her surroundings grew quiet. Riki looked at the prone form of the person who had taken Riki's life.

"What a nasty guy. But it's okay now, because you're still here." Rin stood up with a wide smile on her face. "Let's go, Riki." She set off back to the school, still holding Riki's head in her arms.


	7. Ghostly Presence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [08: Ouija Board] Kyousuke has come up with another activity for the Little Busters. This leads to something unexpected.

"Tonight, I have a activity for us." Kyousuke placed a wooden board down on the cardboard box in Riki's room. "Take a look. I bought this at an occult shop the other day."

Riki, Masato, Rin and Kengo leaned in to examine it up close. There was nothing terribly spectacular about it. It was a simple wooden circle with all the letters of the alphabet etched on the side. The words 'Yes' and 'No' had also been etched into the center.

"Oh, I've seen something like this before," said Riki. "It was in a book I read once, it was some ghost story. Hm, what was it called again?"

"Ghost story?" Rin repeated, her eyes growing wide.

"It's a ouija board," Kyousuke said.

"Ahh, ouija board. That's what it was."

"Oh, I think I've heard of it too. It's supposed to let you talk to ghosts, right?" Masato asked.

Rin stood up. "I've just remembered, Komari-chan invited me over to her room. I have to go."

Kyousuke grabbed her wrist as she tried to walk away. "Do you really think you're going to get away just like that?"

"Uuugh... but I don't want to talk to ghosts! That's scary!"

"It's just a toy," said Riki. "It's not like we'll actually talk to ghosts."

"Yeah, it's just a bit of harmless fun," said Kyousuke.

"R-really?" Rin sat down.

"Don't worry, if ghosts come, I'll just beat them up." Masato flexed his arms.

"Idiot. Ghosts aren't solid," Kengo said. "Even your muscles won't be able to do anything to them."

"Alright, it's time for some spooky fun." Kyousuke placed a small glass down on the board. "Everyone, put your hands on the glass." He put his down first, and everyone else followed suit.

The glass moved right away.

"Wah!" Rin exclaimed. "It's moving!"

Riki read the letters out loud. "Ke...n...go..."

"Hey, why is it spelling my name?"

"Is a bigger idiot."

"Masato!" Kengo roared. "You're moving it, aren't you?"

"Eh?" Masato put on his most innocent look. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Hey, now, no moving it," said Kyousuke. "We're supposed to let the visiting spirits do that."

"Well, it's not like any spirits will be visiting," Riki said. "Might as well let them have their fun."

Everyone silently watched the glass move again.

"Masato is a weakling."

"If you guys want to throw insults at each other all night, why don't you just say it instead of wasting our time?!" Rin leaped up and whirled around, delivering a kick to Masato's head.

"Oof! Hey, how come I was the only one kicked?"

"You started it!"

"Alright, settle down," Kyousuke said. "Let's just sit patiently and wait and see if anything happens, shall we?"

The glass moved.

"Now what?" Riki waited until the glass stopped moving. "It said good evening this time."

"Eh?" Kyousuke's jaw dropped. "Did we actually get a message? Can you hear us?"

The glass moved to the word 'Yes' on the board.

"Huh. I wonder who's pushing it." Riki looked at each of the others in turn. None of them seemed particularly suspicious however. 

"Why don't you tell us your name?" asked Kyousuke.

"Misaki."

"Misaki-san, is it?" Kyousuke was silent for a moment, wearing a thoughtful expression on his face. "Well, I certainly didn't think we'd actually get a visitor. What a surprise."

"Oh, come on." Rin looked at him through narrow eyes. "You're just playing a prank on us, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not. Ah, it's moving again."

"I want to be free."

"Free?" Riki repeated. "Is this like with those trapped spirits who can't move on after death?"

"It's so boring. I want to live again."

The lights went out, plunging the room into darkness.

Riki let out a cry, then immediately felt foolish for doing so. It wasn't like he actually believed they were speaking to a spirit. Rin was probably right, it was just Kyousuke messing with them. Then he heard Rin scream.

"Ahh! No! Let go! Let go, let go! Help!" Her cries were followed by another scream.

"Rin, calm down! Get a hold of yourself." That was Kyousuke's voice.

"Hey, Riki, is there a flashlight in the room?" Masato asked.

"Umm, I think I've got one-" Riki broke off as the lights flickered back on. "Never mind."

"Was that just a coincidence?" Kengo looked dubious.

"Rin? Hey, Rin!" Kyousuke was shaking Rin, who lay limply in his arms with her eyes closed.

"Rin?" Riki crawled over. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know. It looks like she passed out."

"Was she really that afraid?" Masato asked. "Yeah, it was surprising when the lights went out, but..."

"Hmm. Rin's never been fond of the dark." Kyousuke's brow was furrowed as he stared at Rin's face. "Still, to think it would freak her out that much. That's kind of strange."

"How did you even do that, Kyousuke?" Riki asked. "Having the lights go out right as you were pretending to talk to some spirit?"

"He must have had someone listening in somehow while hanging out by the circuit breaker," said Masato. "He had me do that once. Remember, back when we were kids and-"

"Wait. I didn't have anything to do with that. The lights just went off by themselves."

"Oh, come on, Kyousuke." Riki forced a laugh. "You can't fool us. You were just pretending there was a ghost talking to us, right?"

"But, I..."

"Uhh." Rin moaned. Her eyes fluttered open. 

"Rin! Are you okay?" Riki asked.

Rin stared up at him, slowly blinking. Her forehead creased and she turned her head, her gaze roaming over the room. "Uhh. What's happening?"

"You passed out. Was it really that shocking?" Kyousuke asked.

"Eh." Rin pushed herself up into a sitting position and rubbed her eyes. "I guess so."

"Are you feeling okay, Rin?" Riki leaned in, staring at her face with a furrowed brow. The way she seemed so dazed and uncertain had him worried. 

"Uhh." Rin slowly shook her head. "I think I need some fresh air." She rose to her feet and made her way toward the veranda doors, her body swaying slightly as she moved.

"Okay, that was weird," said Masato, as the door shut behind Rin.

"I guess she was in shock," said Kengo. "Looks like your prank went too far."

"I told you, I'm innocent!" Kyousuke lowered his gaze to the ouija board. "I guess we won't be playing this again anytime soon."

"Yeah, let's just stick to scary stories from now on," said Riki. "That was too much for poor Rin." He studied Kyousuke's troubled face, feeling a twinge of doubt. Was Kyousuke telling the truth about not being responsible? It didn't seem like he was lying. 

Rin didn't return that evening. When Riki texted her, she responded that she was feeling tired and had gone back to her room. They didn't see her again until the next morning. Rin was the last one to come to the table for breakfast. She let out a yawn as she took her seat.

"You look tired," said Riki. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

"Mmm." Rin gave her head a small shake.

"You really did get a shock last night, didn't you?" said Kyousuke. "Sorry about that. I won't have us play with ouija boards anymore."

"Uh huh." Rin nodded as she brought the food to her mouth, not bothering to so much as look up.

"She's really not herself this morning, huh. Hey, Rin, want to touch my muscles later? I'm sure that will cheer you right up."

"No way, moron." Rin's retort was unusually subdued.

Riki watched her eat with visible concern on his face. Something wasn't right with Rin, but what was it? He doubted it could be the aftereffects of shock alone. He resumed eating, throwing occasional glances at her.

During classes, Riki kept an eye on Rin. The girls would come up to her on occasion and chat. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe he was worrying too much after all.

At lunch, they all ate together in the cafeteria. Rin seemed to be her normal self, with no trace of the apparent tiredness that had bothered her at breakfast. 

There was some time left during lunch break so Riki spent it wandering around the school grounds. He spotted Rin in the distance and walked toward her.

A cat was rubbing against Rin's leg. Rin looked down then stepped aside and delivered a hefty kick to the cat's side that sent it flying a short distance.

Riki gasped. He couldn't believe what he had just seen.

"Rin!" Riki raced over to her. She didn't react to his presence until he reached her and put a hand on her shoulder, then she jumped and whirled around, facing him with an expression that radiated hostility.

"Don't you... huh?" The angry expression on her face quickly faded. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and her body relaxed visibly. "Eh? Riki?" Rin tilted her head. "What's the matter?"

"Eh? What do you mean? You just..." Riki gestured toward the cat, who had just slinked away and was now crouching near a hedge. "Why did you do that to the cat?"

"The cat?" Rin looked in the direction Riki was indicating. "Fyodor? I didn't do anything. Is something wrong with him? Hey, Fyodor!" She walked over to the cat.

Riki felt a chill crawl along his spine. This was too strange. He went up to Rin, who was now petting Fyodor. Fortunately, the cat didn't seem too upset about the incident and even seemed receptive to Rin's attention. "Rin, you would never kick a cat, would you?"

"What?" Rin's head whipped up. "Of course I would never do something like that! That's horrible!" She got to her feet and put her hands on her hips. "I would never, ever do anything mean to a cat! People who bully cats should be punished."

"Yeah. Of course." Riki lowered his gaze, putting a hand on his head. "I know you would never ever hurt a cat."

"Then why did you even ask something like that?"

"I wonder." Riki wasn't sure about telling her what had just happened. Rin would be horrified to know she had just kicked a cat. Had he been imagining it after all? No, he couldn't have imagined something like that. Then why had she kicked the cat? "Rin, what's the last thing you remember? Before I called out to you, that is."

"Huh? Hmm." Rin folded her arms as she fell into thought. "I'm not sure. I had lunch with you guys and then I was just wandering around, I guess. Why? You're asking really weird questions today, Riki."

"Hmm. Have you had any lapses in your memory lately?" 

"Eh? I don't think so." Rin frowned.

"Is there anything else? Like, have you been feeling strange?"

"Not really. I was really tired this morning but that's about it. I'm feeling a bit better now though."

"Hmm." Riki lapsed into thought for a moment. "You've been feeling off ever since the ouija board stuff, haven't you?"

"Well, it was really scary, you know? The lights went out so suddenly, and you know what? I swear it felt like something grabbed me. It was so freaky."

"Oh, yeah." Riki did recall Rin screaming to be let go. "But you were fine after that, right?"

"I suppose so." Rin knelt back down and resumed petting Fyodor. "I did have strange dreams last night too."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't remember it very well. There were people in the dream I didn't know. I think I saw the river too."

"The river? Near the school, you mean?"

Rin nodded. "And then, in the end, um... it was cold. And dark. I felt sad, and scared, then I woke up. I don't remember anything else."

"I see. Rin, if you notice anything else weird, please tell me, okay?"

"Okay." Rin threw him a doubtful glance. "I'm really not sure what you mean by weird. If you ask me, I think you're the one being weird."

Riki made an awkward laugh. "Yeah, well, see you later." He walked away, throwing a concerned glance over his shoulder. Rin was completely absorbed in petting Fyodor now. It was hard to believe she had kicked him just a moment ago and even stranger that she had no recollection of doing so.

Rin didn't come to hang out with the boys that evening. It wasn't all that strange, considering she liked to spend time with the girls instead on occasion. 

"I hope she's not avoiding us because of the ouija board thing," said Kyousuke.

"Heh, yeah." Riki couldn't help but feel doubtful however. He hoped this wasn't a bad sign.

The next day, Riki approached Komari in the classroom and inquired about Rin.

"Eh? Rin-chan? I didn't see her that night."

"You didn't?"

Komari shook her head. "I was working on a storybook. Maybe she was with somebody else."

"I see." Riki looked around the classroom. He could ask the other girls, but then again, it would probably be seen as prying. There was probably no need to go so far.

"I was thinking I'd invite Rin-chan to lunch."

"Oh, really?"

"Yup, in my favourite place." Komari smiled. "You know where, right, Riki-kun?"

"Yeah."

Rin joined Komari for lunch and they sat together on the roof. While Komari was chatting away, Rin was mostly quiet and staring into the distance while eating her food. 

"I've got plenty of sweets for us." Komari took out some boxes containing donuts and pastries and opened them up. "Enjoy!"

"That's a lot of sweets."

"Ehe, yeah, I do tend to buy too many but it's okay, I usually manage to finish them. Feel free to have as many as you want, Rin-chan, it's for both of us after all."

"Disgusting."

"Eh?" Komari blinked. "What did you say?"

"Stuffing your face full of sweets every day will make you fat, you know."

Komari stared at Rin in stunned silence. 

"Whatever." Rin took a donut from the box and started munching on it. "Hmm, I'd forgotten what these tasted like." She looked sullenly at the donut. "It must be nice to alive and eat stuff like this all the time. Well, I guess I don't have to think about that anymore." She wolfed down the rest of the donut.

"Um. Rin-chan? Are you feeling okay?"

"Okay, I've had enough." Rin stood up. "I'm going to find some other things to do. Bye." She climbed down the ladder and left.

Komari gazed at the sweets with a troubled look on her face. She couldn't understand why Rin would have said those things. Now she didn't feel so much like eating anymore. 

The afternoon's classes had begun and Rin wasn't anywhere to be seen in the classroom. After class was over, Riki approached Komari and asked about her.

"Yeah, we did have lunch together."

"Are you okay? You seem kind of down."

Komari turned her head away, staring at her desk. "I couldn't even finish the sweets. Rin-chan didn't want to eat them with me."

"Really? Maybe she just wasn't hungry."

"She said eating sweets would make me fat."

"Eh?" Riki recoiled. "Rin said that? Really?"

"Yeah, and she didn't seem like herself at all. I know it sounds crazy, but it was almost like Rin-chan wasn't really Rin-chan."

"Huh." Riki thought back to the cat kicking incident. Something strange was definitely going on. He tried to call Rin, but she didn't answer, and neither did she respond to the texts he sent. 

When classes were done for the day, everyone looked for Rin. Eventually, Kurugaya alerted them and they all gathered at the meeting spot, where Kurugaya was waiting with Rin.

"I found her coming back to school."

"You what?" Riki exclaimed.

"She was climbing back over the school gates. Right, Rin-kun?"

Rin was staring down at her feet and not saying anything.

"Wow, Rin-chan, you're becoming quite a daredevil, huh?" Haruka laughed.

"Could it be, Saigusa-san's influence?" asked Mio, looking at her reproachfully. "You're turning Rin-san into another troublemaker, aren't you?"

"Eeeeeh?" Haruka's eyes widened. "But... but..."

"Rin, this isn't like you. How come you left the school? You even skipped classes," said Kyousuke.

Rin expelled a brief sigh and her body gave a sudden jolt. Her head snapped up. "Huh?"

"Rin? What's the matter with you?" Riki asked.

"Eh?" Rin looked at everyone in astonishment. "Where did you guys come from?" Her gaze shifted to the reddening sky. "What? It's that late already?"

"What's the matter with her? Rin-san is acting very strange," said Kud.

"No way," Riki said under his breath. It was happening again. "Rin." He stepped forward. "You went to lunch with Komari-san, right?"

"Uh huh." Rin nodded. She looked toward Komari. "Yeah, I did go to the roof, but..." Her brow creased. "Hmm."

"Rin-chan, do you not remember? We ate lunch together, and then we were going to eat sweets, but you didn't want to."

"No way. I don't remember that at all." Rin lowered her gaze. "The last thing I remember is being on the roof. Did I go to classes? Why can't I remember?" She put her hands on her head.

"Something's seriously wrong with her," said Kengo.

"Did you hit your head, maybe?" Masato asked.

"Okay, I think that's it for tonight. Everyone dismissed. Thanks for the help," Kyousuke said. "Now then, how about we go to Riki's room and talk there."

The five childhood friends went to Riki's room and Riki explained to Rin

"I skipped classes and sneaked out of the school?" Rin shook her head. "No way, I would never do anything like that. I wouldn't have refused to eat sweets with Komari-chan either. That's just weird. Wouldn't I remember doing all that?"

"There's something else too, Rin," said Riki. "You know, yesterday, when I talked to you and asked about kicking a cat. Well..." His voice trailed off. It wasn't easy to tell Rin something like this.

"Hold on." Rin's eyes grew wide. "You're not saying I kicked a cat, are you? Wait, was it Fyodor? Did I kick him yesterday?"

Riki's silence was all she needed for confirmation.

"No way." Rin buried her face in her knees. "How could I do that to him? That's horrible. I wouldn't hurt a cat, ever." Her voice was wobbling as she spoke.

"Hmm." Kyousuke folded his arms across his chest. "So, Rin's got lapses in her memory and she's behaving oddly. It almost seems like... no, it couldn't be."

"I doubt anything you can come up with could be crazier than this," said Masato. "You might as well just say it."

"Is there anything else you could tell us, Rin?" Kyousuke asked.

Rin raised her head and wiped her wet eyes. "Uh. I don't know."

"You mentioned having strange dreams, right?" Riki asked. "Did you have any more of those?"

"Well, I did have another dream. It was kind of creepy." Rin hugged her knees tighter. "I was on the bridge, the one on the river, and I think I fell off." She paused. "No, maybe I was pushed. I'm not sure. There was a face looking down at me from way above. Then it was all dark and I couldn't breathe."

"Hmm. What do you think, Kyousuke?" Riki looked to Kyousuke, noticing that his face had turned somewhat pale.

"Ah. I think it's too early to jump to conclusions. In the meantime, Rin, well... don't worry. I'm sure we'll manage to sort it out somehow."

"Am I crazy?" Rin asked.

"No, you're not crazy," Riki said. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for this. We're here for you, so don't worry."

"Okay." Rin lowered her gaze. "I can't believe I hurt Fyodor."

"He was okay afterwards. You were even petting him and he looked happy. I'm sure he forgot he was even kicked in the first place."

"Hmm. You think I was mean to Komari-chan, too?"

"I'm sure Komari's not holding it against you." Riki flashed her a reassuring smile. "It's going to be okay, Rin."

Rin nodded slightly, though she didn't seem completely reassured.

The next day, Kyousuke asked Riki to accompany him to the library.

"Alright, I want you to help me look up local newspaper records."

"Okay. What are we looking for exactly?"

"Deaths."

A chill ran up Riki's back. "You what?"

"I want you to help me find records of deaths that happened nearby. I'm sure there's bound to be something. Anything involving the river, in particular."

Riki stared at Kyousuke's face. He was entirely serious about this. "No way, you think..." His skin crawled at the mere thought of it. "Rin is possessed?"

"Yeah, so that's why we need to look at these records. Let's get to it."

It didn't take too long to find what they were looking for. There was an article about a girl who had drowned in the river five years before. She had been a student from their school. There had been an investigation into her death but they had been unable to find any indication of foul play and ruled it a possible accident or suicide in the end.

"Shino Misaki." Riki rubbed his chin. "Hmm. Misaki. Why does that sound familiar?"

"The ouija board, remember? That's what the spirit said their name was."

"No way!" Riki recoiled. Horror gradually dawned on him as he thought back to that night. Hadn't Rin said she felt like she was being grabbed? "You mean, at that point when the lights went out, Rin got possessed by a spirit? That really wasn't just a prank after all?"

"I said it wasn't, didn't I?" Kyousuke let out an exasperated sigh. "Of course, I wasn't expecting anything like this." His lips pressed together and he dropped his gaze. "I suppose that means this is my fault, huh?"

"Kyousuke..."

"I'll see if I can find a solution to this. In the meantime, you're in charge of afternoon activities." Kyousuke clapped a hand on Riki's shoulder. "Okay? Keep an eye on Rin."

"Okay." 

Since it was Saturday, there were no classes for the rest of the day. Everyone, except for Kyousuke, spent the afternoon engaging in baseball practice. As usual, Riki was hitting the balls that Rin pitched to him. He managed to hit every single one she threw without any problems.

After a while, she stopped. "I'm bored of this. Can I do some batting instead?"

"Er, sure. Let's switch places then."

This was unusual. Riki stared at Rin while holding the ball. Was she Rin right now? He honestly couldn't be sure. Maybe he was just being paranoid. Riki shook his head and threw the ball. As long as she was with them, it was fine. There wasn't anything to worry about.

Rin spent that evening with the girls. Komari even texted Riki to let him know she was with them. It was just Riki, Kyousuke, Masato and Kengo in the room that night. They spent the evening playing board games. Kyousuke didn't say anything about what he had been up to that afternoon and nobody brought up the subject of Rin.

When it got late and Kyousuke was about to go to his room, he said one last thing to Riki.

"Tomorrow morning, after breakfast. Baseball clubroom, just the two of us."

"Uh, okay." Riki didn't inquire any further. He supposed it had something to do with Rin, but just what was Kyousuke thinking?

The next morning, Kyousuke and Riki went to the clubroom.

"Why just the two of us?" Riki asked. "Is Rin not coming? I thought this would have something to do with her possession."

"It does. Trust me."

"So, what's the plan then?"

"These." Kyousuke took some strips of paper from his pocket. "I spoke to the occult club."

"We have an occult club at this school?"

"Yes. They gave me quite the lecture on using ouija boards so carelessly and advised me never to use it again. In fact, they told me to just hand it over to them."

"Uhh. Okay." Riki raised an eyebrow. "And the pieces of paper?"

"These are exorcism seals. If I say the proper incantation and throw them at her, it should hopefully drive the spirit out."

Riki looked at Kyousuke for a long while without saying anything. "Okay," he said finally. "This is all totally crazy. What if this doesn't work?"

"Then I guess we'll have to call an exorcist."

"Right." Riki put a palm to his forehead and sighed. "I can't believe this is actually happening."

"Okay, I want you to call Rin and ask her to come here by herself. Hopefully, we can do this quietly without causing too much of a disturbance. That's why I picked the clubroom as the location."

"Alright." Riki made the call.

Rin came to the clubroom a few minutes later. "Hey." Her gaze shifted between Riki and Kyousuke. "So, what's up? Are we playing baseball?"

"Rin, listen." Riki took her hands in his and stared into her eyes. "You are possessed by a spirit."

"Eh?" Rin's eyes grew wide and she backed away. "You're joking, right?"

"It makes perfect sense," said Kyousuke. "The memory lapses, acting out of character, and those strange dreams."

"No way." Rin shook her head. "That's crazy. There's a ghost in my body? I..." She kept shaking her head and backing away.

"Don't worry, Rin, we've got a plan," said Kyousuke. "We'll drive that spirit out of your body right now."

"Eh? Drive it out of me?" Rin's head drooped and she began to laugh. "You're going to drive me out? Really?"

"Whoah." Riki took a step back.

Rin raised her head, laughing even louder. "That's hilarious!"

"I take it you're Shino Misaki," said Kyousuke.

"Oh? I see you've done the research." Misaki tilted her head, her lips curving up at the corners. "Yes. I'm Misaki. Nice to meet you."

Riki shuddered. Here they were, talking to an actual spirit and in Rin's body, no less. It was a crazy situation, to be sure. "Why are you possessing Rin? Please, leave her body."

"And why would I want to do that?" Misaki twirled a strand of hair around her finger.

Riki hissed through his teeth. It wasn't going to be that simple after all, it seemed. "You have no right to be possessing her. That's not your body. How much longer do you plan to possess her?"

"Tch. How annoying." Misaki pressed her lips together, her face darkening. "You can ask me as many times as you like, but I'm not going anywhere. It was so boring being dead. I'm finally getting to feel alive again. Why would I want to throw all that away?"

"Look, I know it can't be pleasant being dead, but being in another person's body isn't going to change that," said Riki. "I feel sorry for you, sure. I don't know what happened to you on that bridge, but you need to accept you're dead and move on. Borrowing someone's body is not the same as being alive!"

"Shut up." Misaki ground her teeth and clenched her fists. She met Riki's gaze with blazing eyes. "Shut up, shut up, just shut up! You're no better than them! Always... always..." She clutched at her head and let out a scream. "I didn't ask for that! I didn't want to die! I refuse to go back! Why can't you just let me do what I like?"

"Looks like we have no choice but to do it by force. Riki, grab her."

Riki closed the distance between him and Misaki. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"NO!"

A blinding flash lit up the clubroom. Riki flew through the air and slammed into the wall.

"I won't... I won't... I WON'T LET YOU!"

An unseen force slammed into Kyousuke's abdomen, sending him flying across the room. He lay on the floor, wheezing and clutching at his stomach, struggling to recover the air that had been knocked from him.

"Rin..." Riki pushed himself up, raising his head. "Please... let Rin go!"

"You bastard." Misaki approached him. "You lured me into a trap so you could do something like this? I won't forgive you!" She delivered a kick to his head and then started stomping on him.

"Ugh!" Riki curled up, covering his head. Each stomp of her foot against his body was immensely painful.

"Why couldn't you just let me do what I want?" Misaki kicked him again. "You should both just die!" She turned her head to see Kyousuke crawling toward the seals he had dropped. "Hmph. You think I'll let you?" She marched over and flung him onto his back.

Kyousuke looked up at her with gritted teeth. He hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Now he was wishing he had involved more people in this plan.

"I'm never going back." Misaki sat on top of him. She leaned in, putting her face close. "I'll do anything to stay in this world." Her hands wrapped around his neck. "Even killing annoying people like you. Why don't you find out what it feels like to die and then maybe you'll understand?" Her mouth stretched in a grin as she began to squeeze his throat.

A strangled gasp flew through Kyousuke's lips and his eyes grew wide as he felt those hands tightening around his throat. He clutched at her wrists and tried to pull her hands away but the grip on his neck wouldn't budge. Those hands were clutched so tight, much too tight to be Rin's strength alone. It felt like if they squeezed any harder, his neck would break. He kicked and thrashed about as he struggled to breathe, panic surging through his body.

Misaki burst out laughing. "That's it! Just die, you pathetic piece of shit!" Her eyes shone with glee as she gazed down at his fearful expression. "Hey, how does it feel to be killed by your own little sister? Oh, I guess you can't talk, right? Ahahahahaha!"

"No, stop!" Riki ran over and grabbed her from behind. He tried to pull her away, but his efforts only resulted in Kyousuke being lifted up along with Misaki. "Let go of him!" 

Kyousuke's frantic efforts to remove those hands from his neck were proving futile. His bulging eyes met with Riki's and his lips flapped, but no sound was coming out. 

Riki grabbed Misaki's hands and tried to peel them away. His heart was pounding in his chest and he could hear the roaring of his blood mixing with Misaki's laughter and Kyousuke's weak gasps. As the seconds ticked by, Kyousuke's face was turning red and a blue tint suffused his lips.

At this rate, Kyousuke was going to die. Riki could barely think with his mind whirling in panic. His eyes filled with tears and his breath came out in rapid gasps. No, he told himself, he couldn't give in to fear. There had to be something he could do.

"Stop!" Riki wrapped his arms around Rin's body. "Rin, listen to me! You have to stop Misaki! Fight her off! If you don't, Kyousuke's going to die! You're killing him! Please, let go of him! RIN!"

"Huh?" Rin jolted in his hold, a confused expression forming on her face. Her hands loosened and Riki went flying back with her. The two sprawled onto the floor.

That first rush of air felt so wonderful as it surged into Kyousuke's lungs. He rolled over onto his side, holding his bruised throat while tears spilled from his eyes. His body curled up, twitching with every retch and cough he made.

"Tch. So you resisted me. How dare you."

Rin's body lurched up into a sitting position. Her shoulders rose and fell in sync with her rapid breathing.

"If they want to send me back so badly, then they should just die. That's why I'll kill them first."

"No!" 

Rin clutched her head. Her eyes filled with tears.

"You can't kill them! I don't want that!"

"You really think you can stop me?"

Rin whimpered and screwed her eyes shut. "Just get out of my body!"

"Rin!" Riki embraced her. "You have to hang in there. Fight her. Don't let her control you!"

Rin writhed and screamed. "I can't..." Her body vibrated and a laugh bubbled through her lips. "You can't stop me... ugh, no... help me, Riki!"

"You can do it, Rin. I believe in you." Riki tightened his hold on her. "It's okay, I'm right here. Fight it, Rin! I know you can!"

"Ah... ugh..." Rin stiffened and released an ear piercing scream.

A shadowy mist flew out of Rin's body. At the same time, Rin went limp. The mist hovered in the air above Riki and Rin, taking on the vague shape of a person.

"What? Did you just push me out?" A voice was coming from the mist. "How come... I don't understand. All I wanted was to live again. I didn't want to die. It was all their fault. It's not fair. I hated them so much. I was so angry. Ah... I'm going to disappear... I can feel myself fading away..."

The mist was growing fainter as Misaki continued to speak.

"Well... at least... I had fun... ahh... I'm so tired... I'm going to sleep... I really wish... I could have lived for longer... I can't see anything anymore... it's so dark... just like when I died... this is it, huh... goodbye..."

Misaki's voice trailed off and the mist faded away from view.

Riki expelled a sigh, his body relaxing. It all seemed to be over now. He glanced at Rin. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing steadily. 

A cough reached his ears. Riki's gaze shifted to Kyousuke, who was kneeling on the floor, holding the seals he had just crawled over to pick up. "Kyousuke! Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so," Kyousuke replied in a husky voice. He coughed again and rubbed his throat. Two scarlet bruises in the shape of hand prints circled his neck. "So much for these seals. Didn't even need them in the end."

Riki watched him with a furrowed brow. "That was scary. She could have killed you."

"I guess we learned something from this. Don't underestimate ghosts." Kyousuke's lips twitched in a wry smile. "Is Rin okay?"

"I think she's just sleeping." Riki stroked Rin's damp bangs from her forehead. Her pale face was glistening with sweat. "That must have taken a lot out of her." 

"Thank goodness." Kyousuke exhaled. "It's all over. I wish I'd never bought the ouija board in the first place."

"None of us could have seen that coming. Don't blame yourself." Riki stood up, cradling Rin in his arms. "I'll take her back to my room to rest. Are you sure you're okay though?"

"I think so. Probably going to hurt like hell for a few days, but otherwise it's fine." Kyousuke coughed. "Just take care of Rin."

"Okay. I'll see you later."

Riki returned to his room with Rin and stayed by her side until she eventually came to.

"Uhh... Riki...?"

"Rin." Riki clutched her hand, studying her face with an anxious gaze. "How are you feeling?"

"Mmm. Tired." Rin blinked, slowly looking around. "Huh... I'm in your room?"

"Yeah. You remember what happened, don't you?"

"I went to the baseball clubroom and then... then..." Rin stiffened for a moment. "I was fighting the ghost, right?"

"Yeah, you managed to push her out. She's gone now."

Rin pushed herself up into a sitting position. "It was tough. I had to try really hard."

"Uh huh."

Rin spent a few seconds silently staring ahead, her brow furrowed in a frown. "Is Kyousuke okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine."

"I see. That's good." Rin glanced at her hands, a flicker of guilt passing over her face. "And you?"

"I'm fine too." Riki patted her head. "Don't worry about it. It's alright now. You're not possessed anymore. Everything's back to normal."

Rin inclined her head in a small nod, making a soft sound in her throat. It was a while before she spoke again. "That girl who died... she really hated being dead, didn't she?"

"Seems so. She was a student at this school apparently. We found an article in the newspaper that said she fell off a bridge. They weren't sure if it was an accident or a suicide."

"I guess I pity her." Rin curled her fingers into the sheets. "But she didn't have to do those horrible things like kicking my cats or trying to kill you guys, especially in my body. It was really scary."

"Yeah. Well, it's all over now so you don't have to worry." Riki flashed her a reassuring smile. "Kyousuke definitely won't try messing with things like ouija boards anymore either."

"Good. Honestly, that idiot brother." Rin blew out a puff of air. "Hey, Riki?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Eh? Why are you thanking me?"

"Because I could hear your voice and you were there, I was able to fight it... I don't think I could have done it without you. So, thank you."

"Well, uh..." Riki faltered. "But you were really strong too, Rin. You managed to push that ghost out. You did well." He squeezed her hand with a smile. "Well done."

Rin met his gaze and smiled back.


	8. Darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [09: Bleeding] An unexpected danger reveals itself during the latest trial of courage, leading to a life in peril.

This trial of courage was proving to be quite the terrifying experience. There were screams coming from everywhere. How they had not been discovered yet with all the noise they were making was anyone's guess, as if the beams of the flashlights through the windows weren't enough of a blinding clue that students were up to no good in the school building in the dead of night.

All Riki wanted was to get back to his bedroom and sleep, but his team had yet to find that last talisman that would grant them freedom from this hell that was the trial of courage dreamed up by Kurugaya. Even Kyousuke seemed to be finding it a horrifying experience. Even though he denied it, Riki could see the terror on his face and how pale he looked every time they walked into one of those dreaded traps. Kurugaya's imagination was indeed terrifying, if she could manage to scare Kyousuke of all people. The last person in their group, Rin, was absolutely terrified and quite vocal about it, but still she kept going with much reluctance.

According to the text from Kurugaya, the final talisman was in the biology lab and so they headed to their last destination. 

"Alright then," Riki said, as they walked into the room, "let's find it and get out of here. I'm sure glad it's almost over."

"Really? It's been so fun... I don't know why you would want it to be over so soon. I'm quite enjoying it." Kyousuke put on a forced smile.

"You're totally shaking all over," Rin said from her spot in the doorway.

"Haha... yes, shaking with excitement, as one might say."

"Really?" Riki pointed the flashlight's beam near his face. "Man, you're drenched in sweat."

"Yes... I'm sweating with excitement too."

"Just admit it already." Rin put her hands on her hips. "You're scared too."

"No way! I'm having the time of my life! We're all enjoying this trial of courage to the fullest, right, Riki?"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just try and find that thing already. Whoa, look at all this stuff." Riki was sweeping the beam over the room. "There's tanks everywhere, and all these..." He broke off as he heard a soft growl. "Uh... did anyone hear that?"

Rin let out a whimper. "I'm scared. Let's go already."

"No, we haven't found that talisman yet. Um..." Riki heard the growl again. "Seriously, what is that?"

"I think it's coming from above us," Kyousuke said.

Riki aimed the flashlight toward the ceiling and the light glanced off a pair of glowing eyes. He involuntarily let a scream tear from his throat. The pair of eyes were set in a mass of fur that belonged to some four legged creature clinging to the ceiling.

"Wow. That's impressive," Kyousuke said, after a long moment of silence, "to think Kurugaya could set something like that up. As expected of her, I guess."

"But... it was growling... wasn't it?" Riki took a step forward and felt the sensation of glass splintering beneath his feet. A crunching noise reached his ears and he swung the beam down to a mass of glass shards scattered over the floor. He swept the beam over the trail of broken glass, following it to a broken tube near the corner of the room. "Um. Maybe this isn't Kurugaya-san's doing?"

There was an even louder growl and then a hefty thump vibrated through the floor. Riki spun around to find that the creature had dropped from the ceiling. Its legs were tense and it appeared ready to spring at a moment's notice.

"Uh... this isn't good..." Kyousuke said.

"What is that thing?" Rin asked shrilly.

"I think we should probably get out of here." Riki took a few steps back. "It looks dangerous."

Just then, the creature sprang off the floor and shot through the air toward them.

"No!" Riki let out a cry. He threw himself in its path, thinking only of shielding his friends from the oncoming danger. A fierce blow sent him flying back and he hit something soft. Someone called out his name as he lay there in a daze. He gradually became aware of a blossoming pain in his chest.

"Riki, Riki!"

Riki realized Kyousuke was shaking him. He blinked rapidly, looking up to see Kyousuke's concerned expression.

"Ah... Kyousuke..." Riki mumbled.

"Riki, you're bleeding!" That exclamation came from Rin, who was kneeling next to them.

"Huh?" Riki glanced at his shirt. There were three horizontal tears in the fabric, the edges dyed scarlet by the blood running through three gashes that had been gouged into his skin. He gazed in wonderment without saying anything for a moment. "Ah... is it bad?" he finally muttered.

"Why did you do something so dangerous?" Kyousuke asked.

"Hmm. I dunno... I guess I acted without thinking..." Riki brought a hand to his chest and pressed it against the wound. When he brought his hand away, his fingers were matted with blood. "I didn't want anyone to get hurt." He watched the blood drip from his fingers. "I couldn't let it get you." He let out a short laugh. "I guess it was pretty foolish of me." 

"We've got to get help." Kyousuke stood up, cradling Riki in his arms.

"Should we call an ambulance?" Rin, who was now holding the flashlight Riki had dropped, had already taken her phone out.

Kyousuke looked at the bloodstain spreading over Riki's chest. "Yeah, you probably should."

"Okay." Rin nodded, her expression hardening. As they ran to the school entrance, she made the call.

Everyone else had already gathered outside. Kyousuke explained what had happened.

"What?" Kurugaya was just as shocked as everyone else. "I saw some weird things in there... but there was definitely nothing broken and no creatures loose for that matter. I had no idea it would be so dangerous in there. If I'd known that was going to happen, I definitely wouldn't have put the talisman in there."

"Yeah, I figured this wasn't your doing." Kyousuke looked down at Riki with a grim expression. The blood had soaked through most of Riki's shirt by now and was even staining Kyousuke's clothes.

Riki's face was pale and gleaming with sweat. His chest rose and fell rapidly and his breathing was coming out in short, frantic gasps. He looked up at Kyousuke through fluttering eyelashes. His vision was becoming blurred.

"I'm... not going to die, am I?" Riki's voice was soft and breathy. He felt so dazed that he wasn't even sure what to think anymore. The entire world felt so disconnected from him at this moment. It was almost like he was a mere spectator and this wasn't really even happening to him.

"No. You can't die." Kyousuke clutched Riki tightly. His eyes were stinging as he gazed down at Riki's face. "You're not allowed to die. You're supposed to be the next leader of the Little Busters, remember? You need to stay with us. Please, Riki, just hold on. Don't go. I won't allow it. Stay with us, I beg you."

"Riki! Riki, don't die!" Rin loomed into Riki's vision. Her eyes glistened and tears streamed down her cheeks. "I don't want you to die!"

Riki felt something wet hit his face. He weakly brought up an arm, raising a trembling hand. Rin clutched it in hers. The touch of her warm flesh felt somehow reassuring. "Don't be sad..." He tried to force a smile. "I..."

His strength left him. At that moment, as he slipped into darkness, he heard a siren.

***

He was being pulled down, deep into the murky depths of the endless darkness that engulfed him. His body wouldn't even move no matter how much he tried, and he couldn't even feel anything.

It was cold. So cold.

He was terrified. 

What was happening? He couldn't even remember.

Was he dying?

Surely not. That couldn't be happening. It was too soon for him to leave this world.

Was he going to be trapped in this darkness forever, in this cold and endless place where he couldn't move? He wanted to struggle, to scream, to protest against this cruel reality, but it was impossible.

Maybe he wasn't strong enough after all.

What was going to happen?

He didn't know, and that uncertainty made it even worse.

A light permeated the darkness, bringing warmth to his body as he bathed in its soft radiance. In that shining beacon, he saw two silhouettes.

"Riki."

The light was coming even closer to him. It was strangely comforting and he was quickly forgetting his fear of the darkness. A pair of voices were calling out his name. He had a feeling he had heard those voices before, sometime long ago. An overwhelming sense of nostalgia washed over him.

The silhouettes became sharper and clearer. Two faces were smiling at him.

He remembered those faces from photographs.

They were reaching their arms out toward him and calling him.

For a moment, Riki was so tempted to reach out to them and take their hands. Their presences were so warm, and so familiar, he would happily have forgotten about the terror of this darkness and gone into that light with them.

However, something was holding him back.

He couldn't go.

He couldn't remember why, but he couldn't go with them.

So he struggled. He pushed against the light and forced himself back.

Even as they called out to him and continued to reach for him, he resisted.

He couldn't die!

He didn't want to die.

"I want to live! Please, let me live!" Riki screwed his eyes shut and cried out with all his might.

Something cold and hard wrapped around both of his wrists.

Riki opened his eyes. He saw fragments of bone wrapped around his wrists. They were attached to long, skinny rods that he realized were arms. His gaze trailed along the arms to a pair of skeletal bodies. His mouth grew dry and his heart pounded. He knew better than to look up, but he did anyway and he saw it.

Skulls.

Empty sockets looking at him. Identical grins. Bony heads with not a trace of flesh nor hair. No way to even tell them apart.

Their fingers dug down into his wrists, pressing deep into his flesh.

They loomed closer, pulling him in. A rancid smell assailed his sinuses.

Riki opened his mouth and gagged as the foul scent clogged his mouth and throat. In spite of that stench, he pulled in air and screamed.

His eyes snapped open.

A white ceiling loomed over him.

"Huh?" Riki slowly blinked. His body felt heavy all over. Where was he? He became aware of sheets draped over his body. As he turned his head, he saw curtains draped over a window. "Ah..."

Of course. It was a hospital. He was quite familiar with them by now.

The memories of what had brought him to this place gradually came to him through the thick fog clouding his mind. He'd thrown himself in the path of danger, hadn't he? His friends had been so worried about him. How reckless he had been, doing something like that. Still, if he hadn't done that, someone else could have been hurt.

As he tried to move, he realised his hand was being held by something soft and warm. He cast his gaze down and saw Kyousuke resting on the bed with his eyes closed. His hand was holding onto Riki's.

Riki cracked a smile as he gazed at Kyousuke's peaceful face.

"Hey, Kyousuke." He pulled his hand away and brought it to Kyousuke's shoulder, giving it a gentle nudge.

"Uhh." Kyousuke stirred awake, his eyes fluttering open. He met Riki's gaze and a relieved smile broke out over his face. "Riki. You're awake."

"Yeah."

"Thank goodness." Kyousuke leaned in and hugged Riki. "I thought we'd lost you. I couldn't bear it if you died. For a moment, we weren't even sure if you were going to make it. You'd lost so much blood." His voice was trembling as he spoke. "I really thought..."

"I made you all worry, didn't I?" Riki wrapped his arms around Kyousuke's body. "Sorry about that. I just couldn't let anyone else be hurt. After all, I'm the leader of the Little Busters, so it's my duty to protect everyone, right?"

"I guess so. " Kyousuke pulled away and took Riki's hands in his. "But you need to be careful. Your life is important too."

"I know." Riki smiled at him, giving his hands a reassuring squeeze. "I want to be with everyone for as long as I want, so I won't die, no matter what. We'll always be together. I'll make sure of it."

"Mmm." Kyousuke nodded, smiling back.

"So, what happened to that creature anyway? What was it?"

"It ran off. I haven't heard anything about it since. Hopefully, it's not in the school anymore. Whatever it was, it was clearly dangerous."

"Yeah." Riki's gaze shifted toward the window. "I hope we never see it again." He could certainly do without another encounter like that for the rest of his life.


	9. In the dead of night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [10: Grave] When faced with a challenge, Riki couldn't pass it up, no matter how terrifying it might be.

The moon cast a silvery light over the rows of stone slabs. Riki trod carefully over the soft ground, sweeping the beam of his flashlight over his surroundings. He thought of the countless people at rest in this very place. They had been cremated, placed in urns and stashed into the ground where they now slept for eternity. What did they think of the living daring to encroach upon their territory at such a time like this?

Of course they didn't think anything. Riki shook his head, dispelling such foolish thoughts. Coming here at night was no different to being here during the day.

Well, except for it being dark.

And quiet. So, so quiet.

He was honestly feeling pretty guilty for coming to the cemetery at a time like this. It seriously felt wrong. The place felt much scarier in the dead of night too.

"Don't be a baby," Riki muttered to himself, finding some comfort in the sound of his own voice. He slowly gripped a fist and drew in a long breath. Slowly, he released it with closed eyes.

There was nothing to be afraid of.

What had he been thinking, choosing dare during that one game? Riki hadn't been expecting something so absurd as being dared to spend the night in a cemetery. Now he felt foolish for choosing dare. If he could go back and pick truth, he would absolutely do so.

Maybe he could have refused, but as the leader of the Little Busters, Riki had felt that he couldn't back down. He was supposed to be strong now so he couldn't pass up a challenge. Kyousuke would definitely have accepted such a challenge and gone through with it. Riki didn't doubt that in the least.

Masato and Kengo had offered to accompany him, but he had declined. Now, Riki was wishing he had taken them up on the offer.

Riki was no stranger to cemeteries. He had visited the cemetery once a year for the past decade and during the day. At night though, the cemetery felt like a different place entirely. It was so eerie.

Riki sought out a bare patch of land and spread out a sleeping bag. He got in and zipped it all the way up to his neck. As he lay on his back, he looked up at the night sky. Countless stars twinkled down at him. He kept his gaze focused on the distant spots of light, trying not to think about the situation he was in.

Except that was far more difficult than he had anticipated.

Just thinking about sleeping among the dead was enough to make a chill go down his spine. Now that he was here, lingering in this quiet spot filled with death, he wanted nothing more than to hurry back.

A faint gust blew over his face and Riki burrowed deeper into the sleeping bag. His gaze roamed over the solemn scenery.

It wasn't like the dead could do anything to him. There were no such things as ghosts, Riki told himself, so there was nothing to be afraid of. He was going to be fine. He focused his gaze back on the starlit sky and decided to try counting the stars.

After a few minutes, Riki drifted off to sleep.

He was in a small, enclosed space with no way out. When he tried to scream, his mouth wouldn't open and no sound came. He tried to beat upon the walls that surrounded him, only to find that he had no arms, nor did he have legs. He couldn't move at all.

Riki jolted awake and checked his watch. It was only midnight. An exasperated sigh passed through his lips and he closed his eyes again. The quicker this night passed, the better. He drifted in and out of sleep, having one troubling dream after another.

"Get... out..."

A voice was whispering into his ear.

"Huh?" Riki's eyes creaked open.

"Out... get out..."

"Leave us..."

"Be gone..."

Liquid ice surged through Riki's veins and pimples formed upon the surface of his skin. He slowly turned over and immediately wished he hadn't. A yell tore from his lips at the horrifying sight that greeted him.

Several wispy forms that vaguely resembled people were gazing down at him with hollow eyes. Their rasping voices came from gaping wide holes that might have been mouths.

"Do not disturb us..."

"Ah... ah..." Riki choked out. He could scarcely form words as he continued to stare at the spectres. His heart started hammering against his ribcage.

This was a dream, right?

They reached out to him with long, pale fingers. An icy cold sensation danced over his skin as the fingers brushed over his face.

"You are not welcome..."

"Why are you here?"

As the faces of the spectres moved in, Riki felt light gusts of chilly air blow over him. His teeth chattered as he gazed up at the rows of empty sockets where their eyes should have been. Riki let out a whimper and squeezed his eyes shut. If this was a dream, then he prayed it would hurry and end already.

Their frosty fingers were still stroking his cheeks and the whispers only seemed to be growing even louder.

"Begone..."

"You are not allowed to disturb our rest..."

Riki drew in breath, then screamed.

His body gave a jolt and he opened his eyes.

"Huh?"

Riki blinked several times, looking straight up at the deep blue sky with a dazed expression. He lowered his gaze to see a purple hue spreading over the gradually brightening horizon. For a moment, he was wallowing in a confused haze.

"Uhh." Riki pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing as his back ached in complaint. His clothes were sticking to his damp skin. He placed a hand over his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat. He'd been having a really scary dream, hadn't he?

A shred of doubt formed in his mind. Had that really just been a dream? Riki's gaze swept over the rows of grave stones. Of course, there was not a single ghost to be seen. It would be logical to think he had only been dreaming but it had still felt so real.

Whether it had been real or not, one thing was certain. Riki had no intention of spending another minute in this place. Now that the morning had arrived at last, he was free to return to school. Riki wasted no time in gathering up his things and leaving the cemetery.

As he made his way back, Riki had a smile on his face in spite of that experience. He had found himself in a scary situation, but he had faced the challenge and overcome it. Riki couldn't help feeling a sense of pride over it. It might have just been a little thing, but he really felt like he had managed to accomplish something.


End file.
